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Saturday, April 23, 2016

A to Z Challenge: Tidus from Final Fantasy X

We're at the end of the penultimate week of the A to Z Challenge! This went by way too quickly!

We're finally at T, and for my Final Fantasy geek out session of the day, I will be talking about my favorite Final Fantasy game's main character:

Tidus from Final Fantasy X!

Look at that fresh face. Tidus is the star blitzball player (an underwater football/soccer-like sport) of the Zanarkand Abes. One day in the middle of a game, he gets whisked away by something called Sin and washes up in Al-Bhed (see Rikku in the R's) territory 1000 years in the future! (No, this isn't Futurama.)

When Sin sucks him away again, he's on the mainland and home of a local summoner (Yuna, coming soon) who is about to embark on a pilgrimage to defeat Sin. They are linked by the fact that Yuna's father was the last summoner to defeat Sin, and Tidus's father (honorable mention for J) was one of his guardians!

So how did they get 1000 years in the future?

Well, unfortunately, (and long story very short), their Zanarkand wasn't real, but dreamed up by the Fayth (head on over to F to refresh your memory, if you want) so that (IMO) one day, one of their dream people could defeat Sin and its creator Yu Yevon for good!

(I'll just leave this link here for anyone who wants the long story, but to sum it up: Yu Yevon, evil summoner, possesses people, turns them into monsters, kills people for 1000 years straight, makes them all think they have to worship him to atone for using machina.)

Tidus figures out they have to stop Sin at the source because the current Sin is his FATHER (!!!), and he brought him to the real world in order to get it done.

Unfortunately, once everything is safe for good, all the Fayth finally get to rest, and so their dream Zanarkand, and everyone in it, disappears.

So, we lose Tidus.

Fortunately, if you play FFX-2 and suffer through it, the Fayth mercifully bring him back to Yuna. So, slight silver lining.

Honorable Mention for T:

FFVI's Terra

Final Fantasy VI starts with Terra. We know she's very powerful and wields the ancient ability of magic. The Gestahlian Empire has her under mind control until an esper (summon) comes in contact with her, and she is freed. Terra is half esper herself, and we get to visit the esper world and learn of her true origins there. She's a very well-thought out character, and it's a great game all around.

2nd Honorable Mention:

I can't not mention Tifa Lockheart from FFVII! Though Terra started the FF trend of badass females, Tifa is the face of them hands down. This sweetheart has fists of fury and has been the love interest of Cloud since they were little tykes growing up in Nibelheim. Cloud joins the military to impress her, and that's kind of when things went awry, but through it all, she holds him down. Talk about ride or die chicks!

When we get back, I will tell you about the sorceress Ultimecia from FFVIII.